Go Deutschland!

A Picture we took on the day Germany beat Argentinians 5-3 during Quarter Finals.

Actually I prefer France, but since I'm here, whaddaheck... I'm supporting home team, not because they play well, but because I really love to see the gleaming pride on the faces of the Germans when their team wins. Germans, as we all know, anal..ehem.. and cold, can’t hold a conversation, can't carry a tune, can't tell a joke! My 4th year now, and I have not changed my mind about them since I set foot here.

I always dread those evenings when Habibi has to invite his colleagues home for dinner. There are always awkward pauses, dry jokes that I have to bear with. Habibi would always try to fill in those moments of uncomfortable silence, and initiate many topics, but what more can you do if they answer your questions with 1, maximum 2-worded replies! In the German language, when you say 'freund' (male friend) you are referring to a boyfriend..because there isn't a general word for casual friends. You can use 'bekannte' but that actually means 'acquaintance'. See how hard is it to be on their phone book? Evening invitations are usually whole-night affairs, with dinner, tea and cakes/desserts to be served at the end. These invitations have to be made 2 weeks in advance - at least. Surprise guests are not welcomed.

What I cannot understand is why they insist on people speaking their language, but all they see/hear are American movies/songs! They ad-lib all the movies very badly. Blacks, Chinese, Hispanics all sound the same in the German accent - which shows how much tolerance they have for racial integration. It’s a lot worst when they try to translate the songs too!

But I must give it to the Germans. They are disciplined, organized and almost mechanical in their way of thinking. Once while booking air tickets to go home, I was told that Binti’s tickets costs €xx. I couldn’t believe it of course, because that’s like peanuts, so I told the lady on the phone to re-check it. She insists that she was right, simply because ‘the computer says so’. I know it takes another phone call some other day to get the right prices, but I cannot argue with someone who lets the computer do the thinking. Another time, I had to make a call to a cultural centre to help a friend locate a Muslim Designer based in Germany. I called almost everyday for about a week, but since that person who is in charge was on holidays for 1 month, there is no way I can get the information. That’s another issue – isn’t 6 weeks too much holidays for the already 35 hours a week working nation? Do we need to wonder why big factories like GM, VW are moving their headquarters to Eastern Europe although that would cost thousands of local people to lose their jobs?

How can I forget the time when I was told to swim on the centre lane because the first lane was meant for old ladies who cannot swim? I tried to explain that I was pregnant and there are tendencies of getting leg cramps, but no one would be hear me. Flexibility is not something they are used to. That explains why we are not allowed to throw our thrash on a Saturday at 1.59pm even though that’s the only free time we have, because though the gigantic thrash bins are unlocked, it’s officially closed at 2pm. So that’s how our guest toilet turned into a temporary store for tins, drink cartons, glass bottles, plastics, etc etc.

That’s why we find it amusing, weird, even interesting to see how the Germans celebrate their win over Argentina last Friday during the Quarter Finals. We were going for our evening walk when we hear cars honking, with people of all ages, cheering, clapping, waving their national flags to us. We cheered with them, sharing their happiness (eventhough the game sucks). It seems that everybody was heading to the Stadt (Town Centre) so I rushed back to get my sometimes-dysfunctional digital camera. It was amazing. The road leading to the Stadt was jammed with cars, the small dead city of Forchheim where I lived, is dead no more. Red, Black and Gold colours were everywhere, on the cars, on the faces, even on the hair! There were no barriers. People were friendly and happy. Wearing a smile seems to be a tedious chore for the Germans, but not on that Friday. We took pictures of the fans, one lady seeing how excited we were, even offered to take our family picture (the first one since Ibni came). I wanted to take a picture with a fan, but Habibi was more cautious. He knew the Germans (at work) so he wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea, but I insisted, and got myself a picture taken with a girl fan who was happy to oblige. 'This is unusual for Germans', admitted a German friend. And because I’ve seen what winning means to Deutschland, I really do want to see them win on their home ground. They have not been able to carry their flags and wave it proudly as theirs. They have not been able to sing the complete version of their national song. They were constantly reminded of their past by the people who wants them to be sorry for it.

I’m sure beneath, we are all the same people, but our surroundings, our environment dictates who we are and who we should become, and sometimes, those things aren’t right. It takes a sincere ‘Congratulation’ from us, the temporary migrants on this European soil, and a smile of happiness breaks in the face of those who receive it.

So Germany, although I hate your bread, your cheese and the things you call lunch, I wish you all the best in the World Cup 2006, and hope that it will revive new confidence in your people and bring them together in peace, joy and happiness forever after!

Tor! Toor! Toooor!

Your Born in Germany Die-Hard Fans...